Which characters got "twisted" or misused by the fandom the most?

[game2011]

I should note that I am in no way trying to start an argument of sorts or bash people with this topic.  I just want to see what characters some of you here think has been twisted around by the fandom so much that their canon portrayals have pretty much become forgotten.

For me, Meiling, Kaguya, and Tenshi come to mind.  The former is lazy and incompetent instead of a "just average" gatekeeper who gets her job done properly most of the time.  The moon princess is...  Do I even have to say how different she is from her enthusiastic and cheerful portrayal in canon?  The latter is changed from "I like to fight" into "I like to get beaten up..."

Yukari is more of "misused" than she is changed a lot from her canon portrayal.  Long answer short: she's reduced to nothing but a plot device character by the fandom.  Most fan fictions, especially crossovers, I've come across has her being responsible for incidents or doing something out of boredom.  I feel like crying every time I see a story summary that says something like "Yukari is bored, so she <insert an activity here>."

And there's Flandre and Yuuka being "ROFL stomp" characters most of the time.  Sure, they are powerful, but some people make them more powerful than I think they should be.  In fact, some people make the characters in the series more powerful than they should be.  I once had to deal with a frightening fanboy who bombarded me nonstop for making the girls lose to characters from other series who are legitimately more powerful than them in one of my stories.  He considers Touhou characters to be godly and unbeatable.  The only other series he considers more powerful than Touhou is BlazBlue, but according to my friend, he exaggerates the power level of BlazBlu characters, making them look more powerful than they should be.

Anyone want to share their thoughts?

[Espadas]

Kaguya, Tenshi and Meiling are indeed among the worst victims but i always thought Yuuka got a strange situation....

It's practically canon that there is something "wrong" about her (the people interviewed by Aya are frigthened by her despite her totally passive demeanor, and Akyuu gives her the WORST possible ranks, even over confirmed human-hater like Medicine or slightly insane potentially lethal characters like Flandre) but the fandom twisted her BOTH ways:

1) "dark" twisted = Ultimate Sadistic Creature and similar, with obvious corollary of "Hello, punching bag Tenshi"

2) "light" twisted = Noukarin and similar

Personally i always took her as basically a really strong but peaceful person with a big teasing streak AND an hidden violent side (a remnant from her PC-98 attitude)....

[CyberAngel]

Ah, really agree with everything. About Yuuka and Flandre, I hate it when fandom makes them insane sadists that gleefully use their powers to cause destruction just for the heck of it. In canon, they both are feared, and for a good reason, but they're calm and approachable as long as you don't do anything wrong.

Personally, I'm irked by Eiki being shown all too eager to condemn everyone to hell, since her nagging lectures in canon are aimed exactly to avoid just that. Sanae as overzealous youkai exterminator is way out there as well. Sakuya can also be mentioned due to sometimes being shown as the primary Meiling's tormentor (not to mention that one meme that should be killed with fire).

[Maiden Synnae ミ☆]

Since nobody mentioned her yet: Cirno.

She isn't very smart in canon, yes. But fandom exaggerates this and turns her into a complete retard.

In canon she can even read and do math, unlike some other simple-minded characters such as Mystia.

[FlamingRok]

Sakuya. Pads. That's all I've really got to say,

[Savory]

I pretty much agree with most of you guys. Some characters end up getting the short end of the stick when it comes to fan portrayals. When you have to defend a character you dislike (*cough*Tenshi*cough*)because fans portray her in an obtuse manner, there's something wrong.

In canon she can even read and do math, unlike some other simple-minded characters such as Mystia.

Speaking of Mystia, I'm very surprised the fandom never touched upon the fact that she's forgetful. They do things like this to other characters like Utsuho, so, thinking on it, it's quite the shock.

[Tengukami]

Since nobody mentioned her yet: Cirno.

She isn't very smart in canon, yes. But fandom exaggerates this and turns her into a complete retard.

I think this, and other examples of fandom abuse, goes hand-in-hand with the opposite effect, too: when a character's ability to do [X] is extrapolated to its greatest extreme. So just as it's stupid when people seriously contend that Raiko could cause heart attacks or earthquakes on account of her ability, it's equally stupid to contend that Cirno is nearly too dumb to live.

I think that's what most or even all these complaints about fandom abuse will come from: taking a 2hu's flaw to its greatest extreme, just as is sometimes done with their abilities.

For my part, the "Kaguya is a NEET" bothers me a bit - like others have pointed out, canonically she's pretty far from it. But what really grates my nerves most of all is "[X] is a slut". I mean really. It's not just that the 2hus aren't having sex (that we know of), because I get it that these "slut" accusations are not actually serious. But it's also a weird reflection of the casual misogyny that lonely virgin neckbeards love to throw around with impunity, into almost any game, no matter how non-sexualized it is. It's just strange, tedious and yuck.

[MewMewHeart]

But what really grates my nerves most of all is "[X] is a slut". I mean really. It's not just that the 2hus aren't having sex (that we know of), because I get it that these "slut" accusations are not actually serious. But it's also a weird reflection of the casual misogyny that lonely virgin neckbeards love to throw around with impunity, into almost any game, no matter how non-sexualized it is. It's just strange, tedious and yuck.

The most Touhou who suffers from this Tengu is Reisen because of the "I'm just a useless bunny who's only good for my appeal" meme I SWEAR I want to punch people who say that in their faces because I love Reisen even though Erin and Tewi are my favs too, but it hurts seeing this thing being blown out of proportion and turning Reisen into a sex object no seriously have you seen the pictures that follow that meme that plague Google it sucks when I wanna find a decent Reisen avi and get that meme shoved into my face. I'm done ranting, but that's the thing that comes to mind.

[Spotty Len]

I think that's what most or even all these complaints about fandom abuse will come from: taking a 2hu's flaw to its greatest extreme, just as is sometimes done with their abilities.

Pretty much this. Sometimes it's only took to the parody degree, which is fine, sometimes it's exaggerated to the point it becomes really bothering.

I know canon doesn't give all details about the characters, but taking small details and make them define a character can be ridiculous sometimes. Like, Cirno is childish and may be seen as an idiot, but I don't see why she would be dumb to the point her brain wouldn't work properly.

[Prime32]

Alice. Good lord, Alice. People keep turning her into a tsundere or a half-god or who knows what else, and almost everyone seems to think she has exactly two dolls, both of which have names and are sentient. I mean the results aren't always bad, they just have very little to do with her actual character.

And there's Flandre and Yuuka being "ROFL stomp" characters most of the time.  Sure, they are powerful, but some people make them more powerful than I think they should be.  In fact, some people make the characters in the series more powerful than they should be.  I once had to deal with a frightening fanboy who bombarded me nonstop for making the girls lose to characters from other series who are legitimately more powerful than them in one of my stories.  He considers Touhou characters to be godly and unbeatable.  The only other series he considers more powerful than Touhou is BlazBlue, but according to my friend, he exaggerates the power level of BlazBlu characters, making them look more powerful than they should be.

I have seen people arguing that all Touhous can move faster than light, because of that time Yorihime cut a Master Spark. Of course since Sunny Milk was able to react to attacks made out of light, and fairies are supposed to be  weaker than normal humans, this would mean the entire population of Earth can move faster than light. :V

[Sagus]

Many people sure seem to think Miko was male back when she was Emperor...

and almost everyone seems to think she has exactly two dolls, both of which have names and are sentient.

This is particularly grating considering that successfully making an fully independent doll is one of her objectives that she hasn't achieved.

[Goomba98]

Apparently Flandre has been distorted to the point that people think that her psychopathic personality is canon - Spaztique, writer of Diamond in the Rough, proved otherwise.

And speaking of DitR, Yukari in that one is used as a plot point, yes, but in a way that makes sense - she gaps kids in to keep the balance of Gensokyo (I forgot her explanation behind this, but it made sense to me).

And further speaking of DitR, but also speaking of a post on Touhou Confessions on Tumblr, I don't really get Tenshi's masochism either (behind "if you don't punish me" of course, but that's probably Tenshi willing to battle).

[aListers]

Usually I can see at least a little bit  of their original character in their fandom equivalent but I don't even see a little bit in Tenshi's. I find Meiling's to be quite accurate (she likes her sleep but is actually quite good at her job); Kaguya is a princess in hiding so it's an exaggeration of one of her traits; Yuuka does have the attitude (and to a point the power) but is not anywhere near as aggressive unless you're destroying her sunflower fields and Alice sometimes gives commands to her dolls via voice commands so that's a fanon point that I understand. Plus the exaggerated Tsundere Alice and the sentient 2 dolls aren't as common per use of Alice as these other ones are - not to mention that they're usually toned down a fair bit.

Tenshi's fandom character is a huge exaggeration of one line. That's so much that I struggled to figure out how Tenshi acts. I know a fair bit about her and how she's bored with heaven and stuff but her whole personality in fandom is based off that one line and it reveals nothing about her.

[Phasm]

Flandre defenatly. She isn't a insane vampire out for destruction of Gensokyo!

[BlueFlameBird]

I would have to say Tenshi, my 3rd favorite character.

I really don't like how the fandom portrays her as some extreme masochist. I have yet to find any fan manga, webcomic or any type of media that portrays her correctly.

[Drake]

Short-haired explorer Tenshi is a miracle of the universe

[Goomba98]

I would have to say Tenshi, my 3rd favorite character.

I really don't like how the fandom portrays her as some extreme masochist. I have yet to find any fan manga, webcomic or any type of media that portrays her correctly.

Diamond in the Rough. I mentioned it thrice in my earlier post!

[Kaizaki]

I agree in regards to Kaguya, especially when you consider the amount of canon material about her, Lunarians and the Moon. Not to mention the surrounding literature and analyses of the fairytale which her character is based on. It will be interesting to see how future (maybe even current!) Touhou fans will interpret the princess, now that Studio Ghibli's take on her story has been released to the Western world (the US, at least). Of course, that is assuming that the movie will have an effect on the fandom.

[game2011]

You can say Hisou Tensoku has been twisted as well.  From a balloon into a giant robot...

That's not actually a bad thing, though.

[Razzi Zadhna]

Pretty much the entire SDM has been fucked to hell by canon. Meiling is a useless jackass who endures endless abuse from Sakuya, Patchouli is some creepo librarian who has no connection to the other characters, Koakuma...doesn't exist, Sakuya is some crazy psychotic abuser who has a flat-chest complex (Guys, it's just that ZUN cannot draw boobs. Sakuya as her IaMP artwork shows clearly has some decent boobs), Remilia is...actually she's the only one they got right, and Flandre is lol murder-loli.

[Sagus]

Koakuma...doesn't exist

What? Koakuma basically only exists outside of canon. Even that name isn't actually hers, having been adopted for convenience's sake IIRC. She's a very common character in fanworks with the SDM.

Although to be fair, the only single line of personality we have for her (according to the wiki, ZUN said "she is carefree and mischievous, often behaves thoughtlessly") is pretty much ignored in favor of her being a loyal, useful servant for Patchouli, so I guess you can say she IS "misused" by the fandom.

[Razzi Zadhna]

Meh, I don't read many doujins (I mostly look at art). And she tends to be ignored by most artists from what I've seen. She's got only 7K hits on Danbooru; the other SDM all have over 15K hits and only Meiling doesn't have at least 20K.

Though I'll concede that 7K hits is gigantic for a non-named side character with no portrait from an old-ass game when most series struggle to get to 1,000 or even 500 hits, but when you're talking about 2hu 7K is chump change.

[game2011]

Meh, I don't read many doujins (I mostly look at art). And she tends to be ignored by most artists from what I've seen. She's got only 7K hits on Danbooru; the other SDM all have over 15K hits and only Meiling doesn't have at least 20K.

Though I'll concede that 7K hits is gigantic for a non-named side character with no portrait from an old-ass game when most series struggle to get to 1,000 or even 500 hits, but when you're talking about 2hu 7K is chump change.

She is far from being ignored by artists.  She shows up a lot actually.  It's in canon medias where she pretty much doesn't exist.

[monhan]

Short-haired explorer Tenshi is a miracle of the universe

This. Totally.

If you like Tenshi, then her portrayal there as a girl who try to change herself and go explore the world is definitely a must-read.
Other fanworks with good characterization for her are Tenjou no Tempest, Chameleon's books of her, and a few other books.

If I can add someone, then it's probably Ran.
I don't think this needs any explanation.
Though it applies to any portrayal of obsessive relationship.

[StainGlass]

Eiki, at least physically.  I've always found it annoying the way fandom continues to portray her as a nagging shorty, despite the fact she's almost as tall as Komachi in canon 

I agree with Espadas regarding Yuuka, even though fanon takes it to the extreme.

[CyberAngel]

Another one. Shou, who in fanon loses things constantly and is generally helpless without Nazrin around. Another fine example of something that happened exactly once in canon being blown out of proportion.

[aListers]

Eiki, at least physically.  I've always found it annoying the way fandom continues to portray her as a nagging shorty, despite the fact she's almost as tall as Komachi in canon 

I agree with Espadas regarding Yuuka, even though fanon takes it to the extreme.

Looking at her in game picture, I've always thought that she looks more like bkub's version of Eiki than the fandom one.

[Sagus]

, but when you're talking about 2hu 7K is chump change.

Not really. The SDM, Yukari, Cirno, Marisa and Reimu are the only characters with 15k+ on danbooru. Many other important characters have far less. Kanako has 8k.  Komachi and Shikieiki have 5 and 4,5k. Miko has 4k. Byakuren has 7k.

Koakuma certainly has far less than everyone else in the SDM but as you said, she's such a non-entity in canon that it's surprising she has this amount of fanart at all.

[Clarste]

and almost everyone seems to think she has exactly two dolls, both of which have names and are sentient

Yeah, the impression one gets from her spellcards is that she has a bunch of different types of dolls named after different places from around the world. Shanghai is just next to London and Kyoto and Russia as part of her "dolls of the world collection" or whatever. I blame IAMP for this though, since Shanghai and its Hard version Hourai were the only placename spellcards that carried over.

And of course as mentioned creating a sentient doll is her long-term goal. Which makes me sad we don't see more portrayals as a mad scientist trying to create life.

I would have to say Tenshi, my 3rd favorite character.

I really don't like how the fandom portrays her as some extreme masochist. I have yet to find any fan manga, webcomic or any type of media that portrays her correctly.

Labyrinth of Touhou 2 had a pretty good portrayal of her, in my opinion.

Personally, I don't like way the fandom sometimes takes Akyuu's "threat level" judgments to be some kind of powerlevel, or really anything at all other than a vague estimate of how scared your average human is of them. Like, when SoPM came out that was the very first thing translated, and they even made a chart out of it, as if that was somehow the most important part.

[Tengukami]

Personally, I don't like way the fandom sometimes takes Akyuu's "threat level" judgments to be some kind of powerlevel, or really anything at all other than a vague estimate of how scared your average human is of them. Like, when SoPM came out that was the very first thing translated, and they even made a chart out of it, as if that was somehow the most important part.

Yes. And by extension, the way some fans will dismiss literally everything Akyuu says with "unreliable narrator". First, because this term does not mean "never tells the truth", but rather that they tend to embellish or diminish parts of a narrative; not every single thing they say is an invention. Second, when Akyuu does make dubious claims, it is really pretty obvious.